Pierce Brosnan is without a doubt one of the most memorable names to take on the role of 007, James Bond, whether or not it's for the right reasons. What many didn't know up until this week however is that a certain Australian actor was being eyed to become his replacement, but turned down the position because of his busy work schedule.

Hugh Jackman was that man, and at the time of the offer was already making a big name for himself in the Marvel Universe, taking on Wolverine on the big screen since 2000 and immediately becoming a hit with comic book movie fans.

Around the same time, the 'Bond' movie series was going through somewhat of a jumping of the shark. Invisible cars and strange cameos were scattered throughout Brosnan's final outings, and so those working within the franchise knew that something had to be done to refresh the series.

Bringing in Jackman was part of the plan, but it wasn't something he was interested in when he sat down and thought about taking on the role.

Speaking with Variety, the actor opened up about how he was once approached to take on the role of the world's most famous spy, explaining: "I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I’d be interested in Bond. I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real. And the response was: “Oh, you don’t get a say. You just have to sign on.” I was also worried that between Bond and X-Men, I’d never have time to do different things."

Many of us will of course be thankful that Jackman turned down the opportunity, because who knows what would have happened to the brilliant portrayal of Wolverine that Jackman brought to the big screen if he had chosen to take on Bond?

Thankfully, current actor Daniel Craig has more than proven he's perfect for the role after Jackman turned it down, and now we couldn't imagine anyone but him being present as Bond throughout the films he's been a part of! In 2019, he'll return for the currently untitled 'Bond 25', but following on from that, many expect a new face will be stepping in to take over the mantle.